Goats

I knew it was going to be a challenge but… Well, the story goes like this:  A friend of mine has lots of critters and in the course of emailing her about another matter she asked if I could make use of two Cashgora (cashmere/angora) goats.  I asked a few questions but ultimately agreed to take them.  She didn’t want any money as she hadn’t paid for them either.

After a few preparations (not nearly enough as you will see) I went and got the pair yesterday.  We decided that it would be best to use the car so they didn’t jump out of the pickup and hang themselves. We had a bit of a challenge catching one and then they loaded rather nicely into our Subaru Outback.  We drove the 30 or so miles home without incident.  I did tie their leads to the “oh shit” handles to keep them from ending up in my lap while driving.  They didn’t even leave me any little jelly beans in the back of the car.  Off to a good start.

Got them unloaded, water put out, a little hay put out, and into the corral.  No big deal.  Then my husband and kids came home and wanted to see them so we went out to catch them.  The goats proceeded to dive through the fence and take off on a jaunt.  Probably about 2 miles later through the fields, me chasing them on foot and in the truck, and then the neighbor horses freaking them out, and the yearlings we have pastured here chasing them I finally got a leash on one.  We were all pooped.  I haven’t been running lately and I sorely wished I had been.  So I got them back in, went to town and picked up some field fencing.  My barbed wire fence was certainly not holding them.

I got the fencing about half way done last night before it got too dark to swing a hammer any more.  This morning I ran my son to school and on a whim threw my dog in with us so she wouldn’t harass the goats while we were gone.  Boy was I glad.  When I got home the goats were out again.  Luckily it didn’t take long to catch them again.  Then I immediately went to work putting up the rest of the fence.  Whew!  Now we shall see if this holds them. I sure hope so.  I’m beat.  Less than 24 hours of them being on the place and it is already an adventure.

Now, I have company coming tomorrow so I better get my house cleaned up, even though what I really want to do is crash and take a nap.